Problem: $ A = \left[\begin{array}{rr}-2 & 3 \\ 4 & 0\end{array}\right]$ $ D = \left[\begin{array}{rr}0 & 0 \\ -2 & 5\end{array}\right]$ What is $ A D$ ?
Explanation: Because $ A$ has dimensions $(2\times2)$ and $ D$ has dimensions $(2\times2)$ , the answer matrix will have dimensions $(2\times2)$ $ A D = \left[\begin{array}{rr}{-2} & {3} \\ {4} & {0}\end{array}\right] \left[\begin{array}{rr}{0} & \color{#DF0030}{0} \\ {-2} & \color{#DF0030}{5}\end{array}\right] = \left[\begin{array}{rr}? & ? \\ ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ To find the element at any row $i$ , column $j$ of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in row $i$ of the first matrix, $ A$ , with the corresponding elements in column $j$ of the second matrix, $ D$ , and add the products together. So, to find the element at row 1, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the first element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ A$ with the first element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ , then multiply the second element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ A$ with the second element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ , and so on. Add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rr}{-2}\cdot{0}+{3}\cdot{-2} & ? \\ ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 2, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }2}$ of $ A$ with the corresponding elements in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rr}{-2}\cdot{0}+{3}\cdot{-2} & ? \\ {4}\cdot{0}+{0}\cdot{-2} & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 1, column 2 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ A$ with the corresponding elements in $\color{#DF0030}{\text{column }2}$ of $ D$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rr}{-2}\cdot{0}+{3}\cdot{-2} & {-2}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{0}+{3}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5} \\ {4}\cdot{0}+{0}\cdot{-2} & ?\end{array}\right] $ Fill out the rest: $ \left[\begin{array}{rr}{-2}\cdot{0}+{3}\cdot{-2} & {-2}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{0}+{3}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5} \\ {4}\cdot{0}+{0}\cdot{-2} & {4}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{0}+{0}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5}\end{array}\right] $ After simplifying, we end up with: $ \left[\begin{array}{rr}-6 & 15 \\ 0 & 0\end{array}\right] $